By Ronnie Nathanielsz
AJ “Bazooka” Banal and Czar Amonsot are not only back, they’re back with a vengeance.
The two southpaws thrilled a massive crowd of 15,000 fight fans at the Island City Mall car park late Saturday with impressive victories over game Indonesian opponents and left no doubt that their careers were back on track.
Banal who is ranked No. 8 by the IBF, No. 9 by the WBA and No 14 by the WBO was returning from a shocking 10th round knockout at the hands of Panama;s Rafael Concepcion in a WBA super flyweight interim title fight last July 26 and his fine performance quickly re-kindled hopes of a future world title.
Banal moved with confidence and often caught Indonesian champion Nouldy Manakane with cracking combinations and whenever the Indon turned aggressor Banal would counter with deadly accuracy.
Banal dropped Manakane with a hard left in the second round and put him away for good with a perfectly-timed combination that sent the Indonesian crashing to the canvas at 1:39 of the fourth with referee Ben Necessario not even bothering to count as the ring physicians clambered into the ring to help the fallen Manakane recover and get back on his feet.
With the impressive win the overjoyed Banal improved to 18-1 with 15 knockouts and clearly erased the memory of his only defeat. Manakane while fighting gamely eventually succumbed to the infinitely superior Filipino and dropped to 17-8-1 with 8 knockouts.
Lightweight Czar Amonsot (18-3-1, 10 KO’s) showed no signs of the ill-effects of a bloody and brutal war with Australia’s Michael “The Great” Katisidis in Las Vegas in July 2007 when Amonsot’s career was in doubt after doctors discovered a tiny spec of blood outside his brain.
Ironically, Katsidis was scoring a lopsided ten round decision over Argentina ’s Hugo Ramirez before some 3,000 fans at the Cebu Coliseum who booed Ramirez who was obviously out to survive while Amonsot was being cheered lustily by a crowd that Dong Secuya of Philboxing estimated at five times the Cebu crowd.
The long layoff, an excellent conditioning program and an abiding faith and desire to return to the ring paid off for Amonsot. A series of tests including MRI’s and CTScans plus a clearance from noted neurosurgeon Dr. Almario Jabson and the Philippine Games and Amusements Board paved the way for the hard-hitting southpaw to take on Indonesia’s Joel Fidal (16-6-2, 7 KO’s) and erase any lingering doubts over his condition or his talent.
Amonsot who hardly showed any trace of his nineteen month absence from the ring proved far too skilful and strong for Fidal. A vicious body shot in round two dropped the Indonesian for the first time.
A cracking left cross by Amonsot sent Fidal crashing to the canvas in the 5th round with referee Delbert Peligrino counting out the hapless Indonesian to the delight of respected boxing patron Tony Aldeguer of the famed ALA Gym and Tagbilaran City’s popular sportsman, Mayor Dan Neri Lim, a passionate supporter of boxing along with his city council from the picturesque island of Bohol.
